Question; Place I am cutting on this year is pretty much a honey hole. About 3 heavily wooded acres was cleared last February. All trees have been cut and piled nice and neat into 5 piles all about 20’ tall and at least that wide. Hook up a strap and yank one out , cut , load and on to the next. It is making very quick wood. Probably 80% oak and the rest is hickory, hackberry and a few nice size elm trees. My question is how long do you guys think I have before I have to worry about rot ? Going on a year since they were cut down and still holding a bunch of green in all I have cut. I am thinking I should have a good 2 year’s left to knock out all the piles ? I have been at it every weekend since October and only made it through about 3/4 of one pile. Photo is about 5 hours work , pulling trees out and cutting and splitting, me my nephew and my dad. Thoughts on how long I have till it rots ?
Hackberry and hickory rots pretty fast. Hackberry about a year and you notice it starting to get punky if it's on the ground and wet. Hickory about the same. I don't cut oak, too much black locust and sugar maple here, so I don't know much about oaks rotting characteristics. I have a couple of large red elm that broke and blew over about two years ago... still good but they're getting to where they need to be taken before much longer.
Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately I can’t really dig out a certain species out of the pile. Guess I just need to stay with it until it is done !
If they're in big piles like you say then really only the stuff on bottom should rot...everything on top off the ground should be good for years. Oak in particular seems to stay good for many years if off the ground. I've had log piles close to 2 years and even the wood on bottom (red oak) was fine.
+1 on getting the Hackberry out ASAP...it's decent fuel wood, but rots faster than just about any other species I've encountered. I'm jealous of your BTU Buffet!
So I burn A LOT of softwood and I can tell you that as long as it's off the ground it lasts a while. 2-3 years before turning. On the ground probably a year. Oak on the other hand is tough. Keep it off the ground I'd say 5 6 years and maaaaybe it'll turn. Key is keep it off the ground.
We rarely worry about oak rotting especially if it is off the ground. However, we have cut oak that has been on the ground for 10 years! 90% of it was excellent. As for the hackberry, no experience with that here. Hickory should keep as long as oak. Elm not as long but you should still have a few years to work that.
I split most of mine 22”-26”. Fireplace will take up to a 32” but that is a little tough to shuffle around ! House was built in the late 1920’s and has a huge fireplace. It goes through the wood but I love the heat it puts off. I know most of it is going up and out but I honestly don’t care.
I agree with the above. Get it all bucked and home asap, then worry about splitting. Never know when the source will dry up, and even if your home rounds go punky by 10 percent, that's still 90 percent good.
The oak might start to get punky under the bark if it lays there too long, but it should last 2 years off the ground. I'd say, if you can't get it all out this year. At least buck the log lengths and haul it home or stack the rounds till you can get them split
I am heading out to set up and cut all weekend out there so hopefully I will get another dent knocked into it. Thanks !
I agree with you Mykidsdad. Our fireplace pumps good heat out of it. In the future I am going to try longer splits just to experiment. Been using 16"-18" splits in mine the last couple of years. Still a learning curve for me.
We're going to need to see a few pictures when your done this weekend. I guess I would focus on the trees that are on the ground when you start working your way down the stack, those will rot first. Otherwise I think your right, most of the wood will still be good for a few years yet. But if it were me, I would get it cut split and stacked so you know it will be good wood and seasoned wood. That must be some fireplace you have...
some bugs like horizontal wood with bark on. Just another nuisance with some wood in some places but another reason to get 'er done. Course there's a pest that like freshly stacked wood too, little buggers.
I am no expert for sure. I figure if it will take a huge piece of wood I will feed it one. It does pretty good , I hear the whole house with it and my kids are never cold , well until they go to the bathroom at the opposite end of the house but I do have a space heater in there.
